The box office is getting another jolt this weekend, with Marvel Studios’ ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ projected to generate $190 million to $210 million worldwide. This follows the recent success of DC Studios’ Superman from James Gunn, which has already soared past $409 million globally. ‘Fantastic Four’’s opening is expected to be close to Superman’s $220 million debut.

Internationally, First Steps is eyeing a launch between $90 million and $100 million, with potential upside if family audiences connect with its themes. On the domestic front, the film is expected to bring in $100 million to $110 million across 4,100 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The star-studded cast includes Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The movie will benefit from premium formats such as PLFs, Dolby, IMAX, D-Box, and 4DX, with U.S. previews beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Advance ticket sales have been strong, reaching $20 million—similar to the presales for both ‘Superman’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ which opened to $125 million and $118.4 million domestically, respectively.

This marks the first Fantastic Four movie from Kevin Feige’s Marvel Studios, following Disney’s acquisition of Fox. While Fox’s earlier films—’Fantastic Four’ (2005) with $333.5 million worldwide and ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’ (2007) with $302 million worldwide—performed decently, they never reached the heights of ‘Spider-Man.’ The 2015 reboot from Josh Trank flopped, earning just $170 million globally, amid reports of heavy reshoots.

With Marvel Studios now controlling the property, characters like Dr. Doom can finally be integrated into the larger MCU, paving the way for crossover potential with franchises like X-Men.

If projections hold, ‘First Steps’ will mark Marvel Studios’ biggest opening of 2025, outperforming ‘Thunderbolts*’ ($74.3M domestic opening) and ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ ($88.8M domestic opening). The last blockbuster debut for the MCU was ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ in 2024, which opened with $211.4 million in the U.S./Canada and finished with $636.7 million domestically and $1.33 billion worldwide.

Directed by Matt Shakman (‘WandaVision’), ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ is currently the highest-rated film in the franchise, with an 89% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. For comparison, Josh Trank’s 2015 film scored just 9%, while Tim Story’s 2005 and 2007 installments were at 27% and 37%, respectively.

The film is opening day-and-date worldwide. International debuts began Wednesday in countries like France, Indonesia, Italy, and the Netherlands, with UK, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Korea, and Mexico joining on Thursday. By Friday, major markets such as China, India, Japan, and Spain will be covered, completing its 100% offshore footprint.

Looking at comparable superhero titles, ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ debuted to $95M overseas (including $11M from China), ‘Superman’ also earned $95M ($7M from China), while ‘Thunderbolts*’ made $88M ($11M from China). Another relevant comparison is 2023’s ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,’ which opened to $119M overseas ($18M from China). Europe, Mexico, Brazil, and Australia are expected to deliver the strongest numbers.

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